[REVISION HISTORY]

Nord Stream sabotage investigations and trials continue

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2026-10-26 06:15 UTC → 2026-10-31 11:02 UTC · added ~~removed~~

German prosecutors have deepened the probe into the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. After initially charging former SBU officer Sergei Kuznetsov in July 2025, German authorities filed a formal indictment on 21 July 2026. The charge alleges that Kuznetsov organised a team of Ukrainian nationals, chartered the yacht Andromeda and directed divers who placed explosives near the Danish island of Bornholm. The indictment relies on intercepted communications, mobile-phone data and a monitored call with Kuznetsov’s wife in which he reportedly said he acted under a Ukrainian intelligence network and felt abandoned by Kyiv. A second indictment on 23 July 2026 framed the act as a war crime, asserting that the explosions were carried out under instructions from Ukrainian state bodies and alleging damage to three of four pipelines. While Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has stated there is no indication that state bodies or officials participated, the Kremlin has called the indictment proof of a “terrorist act.” In August 2026, a second Ukrainian suspect, professional diver Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, was arrested in Pula, Croatia. Although Zhuravlyov applied for political asylum and his legal team argued he could not receive a fair trial, a Croatian court approved his extradition to Germany. His defense has called the decision “politically motivated” and noted his intention to declare an indefinite hunger strike. Former Ukrainian ambassador Oleksandr Levčenko has also criticized the proceedings, questioning the classification of the incident as a war crime. The criminal trial for Sergei Kuznetsov commenced in October 2026 at the Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht in Hamburg. Prosecutors allege he was the mastermind who, alongside six accomplices, used the yacht ‘Andromeda’ to deploy military explosives. Kuznetsov, a former Ukrainian military officer, denies all charges and has declined to testify. In late October 2026, the Hamburg court rejected a defense motion to dismiss the trial.

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